Shoe of convertible appearance



r m m- May 3, 1960 Filed Jan. 20, 1960 J. J. FERREIRA SHOE OF CONVERTIBLE APPEARANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

IN VEN TOR.

May 3, 1960 J. J. FERREIRA SHOE OF CONVERTIBLE APPEARANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 20, 1960 R m m m SHOE OF CONVERTIBLE APPEARANCE Joseph J. Ferreira, Raynham, Mass., assignor to Joseph F. Corcoran Shoe Co., Inc., Stoughton, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 20, 1960, Serial No. 3,562

2 @laims. (6]. 36-25) This invention comprises a new and improved shoe so constructed as to be convertible at the will of the wearer from slip-on type to Blucher or other standard style and thus be made suitable for different occasions or various conditions of wear. For example, as a slip-on shoe. it is particularly convenient and comfortable for house or casual wear and as a Blucher, plain toe, wing tip or the like it looks well for street or business wear. The shoe is thus given a novel characteristic and capacity beyond that of shoes heretofore offered the public.

Going more into detail, the shoe of my invention includes in its construction quarters terminating in the instep portion of the upper and secured at both sides of the vamp at about the ball line. The vamp includes a free tongue extending between the quarters and rearwardly of their points of connection thereby being adapted to be placed either above the quarters so as partially to conceal them or beneath the quarters so as to expose them to view.

A shoe of moccasin type made according to my invention is further characterized in that a hand bar stitch is provided at the common junctures of the quarters, vamp and plug on both sides of the shoe thus reinforcing the upper at critical points where it might otherwise be strained in making the conversion from one style to the other.

Another feature of my invention resides in the provision of an inner flap which may be located at will in either of two positions in the upper, viz. either above the tongue and beneath the forward ends of the quarters, or beneath the tongue in direct contact with the wearers foot. In the first instance the flap is useful in preventing the laces from marking the tongue, and in the second instance it protects the wearers foot more directly.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the shoe in its Blucher type appearance.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view of the shoe in its slip-on appearance,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the forepart of the upper shown in inverted position,

Figs. 4 and 6 are views in perspective of a wing tip shoe in its two aspects,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing the inner flap of the wing tip shoe, and

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of a plain toe shoe embodying the invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the quarters of the shoe terminate in Blucher noses 10 and 11 and the forward edges of the quarters below these noses are secured by vertical butt seams 12 and 13 to the rear vertical edges of a vamp 14 of moccasin type. The vamp is completed by a plug 15 which is stitched to the inner U-shaped aten edge of the vamp, usually by an overcast seam or by a hand-sewn moccasin seam. The seams 12 and 13 are preferably butt or boot seams in which the connected edges are registered and stitched inside out as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The plug 15 merges into a free tongue 16 extending upwardly and rearwardly between the Blucher noses. The plug 15 is stitched to the vamp about its forepart and rearwardly as far as the vertical seams 12 and 13 while the tongue 16 is free and unattached beyond those same points. Accordingly, it will be seen that at the upper end of the seams 12 and 13 there is a common juncture point between the quarters, the vamp and the plug. It is from those common juncture points that the tongue 16 extends. As best shown in Fig. 3, these juncture points are reinforced by hand bar stitches 17 so placed as to clear the tongue 16 but unite the other three components of the upper. The forward end of the tongue merges into the vamp and starts at the juncture of the vamp and quarters.

When the tongue 16 underlies the Blucher noses 10 and 11 of the quarters it is partially concealed thereby. On the other hand, when the tongue overlies the Blucher noses they are completely concealed, as shown in Fig. 2.

The quarters are shown as having a marginal lining strip which extends along their inner-upper margin and the lining of the inside quarter is shown in Fig. 3 as extended to form an inner flap 18. This flap is shown as lying in contact with the inner surface of the quarter, but when the shoe is converted to its slip-on type the flap 18 may be folded into the position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, that is to say, it may be located so as to underlie the lacings which are concealed by the tongue 16 when positioned as shown in Fig. 2. On the other hand, when the shoe is converted to its Blucher type, the tongue 16 will underlie the lacings so that the flap 18 protects the tongue from making by the lacings.

It will be apparent that the invention is not limited to the employment of marginally lined quarters or to Vamps of moccasin type.

In Figs. 4-6 the invention is shown as embodied in a shoe of wing tip style having a vamp 20 with an inserted instep or plug portion 21 extended rearwardly in the form of a free tongue 22. The tongue is of sufiicient length and area completely to cover the forward portions of the quarters 23 when it overlies them as shown in Fig. 6. On the other hand, the connecting seams between the vamp and quarters terminate at points which permit the tongue 22 to be passed beneath the quarters as shown in Fig. 4 so that the shoe then appears to be of conventional wing tip style. The quarters are provided with lacings 24 and conversion between the two styles requires only the temporary removal or loosening of these lacings.

A flap 25 is stitched to the inner face of the left quarter 23, along lines of stitching located substantially within the margin of the quarter. The flap is of such shape and size as to be symmetrically over the instep of the wearer in either of two positions, viz. when the flap is located above the tongue 22 or beneath it. When located above the tongue 22, as shown in Fig. 4, the flap 25 protects the tongue from being marked by the lacings 24. When located beneath the tongue and quarters, as shown in Fig. 6, the flap 25 directly engages the foot of the wearer and so protects the foot against the lacings threaded between the eyelets of the quarters.

Fig. 7 of the invention is shown as embodied in a shoe of the plain toe style having a vamp 30 which merges rearwardly into a free tongue 32 corresponding to the tongues 16 and 22 already described. Quarters 33 are stitched to the vamp 30 and the points'of connection are such that the tongue 32 may be passed either under the quarters as shown in Fig. 7 or over the quarters in the manner suggested by Fig. 6. In the first of these positions the quarters are fully exposed to view while in the second position the forward portions of the quarters are completely covered and concealed.

The shoe'of Fig. 7, like that of Figs. 4-6, is equipped with a flap 32 stitched to the inner face of the left quarter, free at its right hand edge and shaped to extend over the wearers instep either above the tongue 32 or beneath the tongue and the quarters.

The invention has been described above as exemplified in three different styles of shoe but it will be understood that it is equally applicable to most if not all other conventional styles such, for example, as those known to the shoemaking industry as Algonquin front, Krohn Moc front, straight tip, stitch and turn front, underlay front, mudguard tip, etc., either for men or for women, juveniles and sport shoes.

The shoes are herein shown as equipped with aprotection flap 18, 25 or 35 although the presence thereof is of secondary importance and not necessarily to the present invention.

The present application is filed as a continuation-inpart of my prior application Serial No. 843,721, filed October 1, 1959, now abandoned in favor of the present application.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail certain illustrative embodiments thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A shoe convertible from a Blucher shoe to a shoe having the appearance of a slip-on shoe comprising a vamp extending on both sides of the shoe to the ball line, quarters secured to said vamp at the ball line and extending rearwardly therefrom, forward portions of the quarters extending toward each other, and a tongue extending rearwardly of said vamp, the" forward end of said tongue starting at the juncture of said vamp and quarters, said tongue being free of direct attachment to said quarters leaving the tongue free to underlie the front portion of said quarters when the shoe is used as a Blucher shoe and to overlie the front portion of said quarters when the shoe is converted to the appearance of a slip-on type shoe.

2. A shoe as set forth in claim 1 further including a flap secured to the inner face of one of said quarters in position to overlie said tongue when the shoe is used as a Blucher shoe and underlie said tongue when the shoe is converted to the appearance of a slip-on type shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

